Season 59

Season 59

The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised for the first time in high definition.

The ceremonies were hosted by Ryan Seacrest.

Of the 54 nominations for comedy and drama programs as well as lead and supporting performers, 33 were not included among the previous year’s nominees - a 60% rate of fresh faces and shows.

New nominees include Ugly Betty and 30 Rock in comedy series programs, along with Boston Legal in the drama series category. Newcomers in the performer categories include Sally Field in Brothers & Sisters, America Ferrera in Ugly Betty, as well as Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock.

The telecast awarding Primetime Emmys in 27 categories was presented before a black-tie audience and televised from the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Late Show With David Letterman
Real Time With Bill Maher
The Colbert Report

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program

The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

James Spader for playing Alan Shore on Boston Legal
James Gandolfini for playing Tony Soprano on The Sopranos
Hugh Laurie for playing Gregory House on House
Denis Leary for playing Tommy Gavin on Rescue Me
Kiefer Sutherland for playing Jack Bauer on 24

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Ricky Gervais for playing Andy Millman on Extras
Steve Carell for playing Michael Scott on The Office
Alec Baldwin for playing Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock
Tony Shalhoub for playing Adrian Monk on Monk
Charlie Sheen for playing Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Sally Field for playing Nora Walker on Brothers & Sisters
Patricia Arquette for playing Alison Dubois on Medium
Minnie Driver for playing Dahlia Malloy on The Riches
Edie Falco for playing Carmela Soprano on The Sopranos
Mariska Hargitay for playing Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Kyra Sedgwick for playing Brenda Leigh Johnson on The Closer

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

America Ferrera for playing Betty Suarez on Ugly Betty
Tina Fey for playing Liz Lemon on 30 Rock
Felicity Huffman for playing Lynette Scavo on Desperate Housewives
Julia Louis-Dreyfus for playing Christine Campbell on The New Adventures of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker for playing Nancy Botwin on Weeds

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Robert Duvall for playing Prentice 'Print' Ritter in Broken Trail
Jim Broadbent for playing Lord Longford in Longford
William H. Macy for playing Clyde Umney & Sam Landry in Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King
Matthew Perry for playing Ron Clark in The Ron Clark Story
Tom Selleck for playing Jesse Stone in Jesse Stone: Sea Change

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Helen Mirren for playing Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect: The Final Act (Masterpiece Theatre)
Queen Latifah for playing Ana in Life Support
Debra Messing for playing Molly Kagan in The Starter Wife
Mary-Louise Parker for playing Zenia Arden in The Robber Bride
Gena Rowlands for playing Melissa Eisenbloom in What If God Were The Sun

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Terry O'Quinn for playing John Locke on Lost
Michael Emerson for playing Benjamin Linus on Lost
Michael Imperioli for playing Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos
T.R. Knight for playing George O'Malley on Grey's Anatomy
Masi Oka for playing Hiro Nakamura on Heroes
William Shatner for playing Denny Crane on Boston Legal

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Jeremy Piven for playing Ari Gold on Entourage
Jon Cryer for playing Alan Harper on Two and a Half Men
Kevin Dillon for playing Johnny "Drama" Chase on Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris for playing Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson for playing Dwight Schrute on The Office

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Katherine Heigl for playing Dr.Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy
Lorraine Bracco for playing Dr. Jennifer Melfi on The Sopranos
Rachel Griffiths for playing Sarah Whedon on Brothers & Sisters
Sandra Oh for playing Dr.Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy
Aida Turturro for playing Janice Soprano on The Sopranos
Chandra Wilson for playing Dr.Miranda Bailey on Grey's Anatomy

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Jaime Pressly for playing Joy Turner on My Name Is Earl
Conchata Ferrell for playing Berta on Two and a Half Men
Jenna Fischer for playing Pam Beesly on The Office
Elizabeth Perkins for playing Celia Hodes on Weeds
Holland Taylor for playing Evelyn Harper on Two and a Half Men
Vanessa Williams for playing Wilhelmina Slater on Ugly Betty

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Thomas Haden Church for playing Tom Harte in Broken Trail
Edward Asner for playing Luke Spelman in The Christmas Card
Joe Mantegna for playing Lou Manahan in The Starter Wife
Aidan Quinn for playing Senator Dawes in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
August Schellenberg for playing Sitting Bull in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Judy Davis for playing Joan McAllister in The Starter Wife
Toni Collette for playing Kathy Graham in Tsunami: The Aftermath
Samantha Morton for playing Myra Hindley in Longford
Anna Paquin for playing Elaine Goodale in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Greta Scacchi for playing Nola Johns in Broken Trail

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special

Tony Bennett: An American Classic
A Tribute to James Taylor (Great Performances)
Lewis Black: Red, White & Screwed
The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner
The Kennedy Center Honors: A National Celebration of the Performing Arts
Wanda Sykes: Sick and Tired

Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Special

Tony Bennett for Tony Bennett: An American Classic
Stephen Colbert for The Colbert Report
Ellen DeGeneres for 79th Annual Academy Awards
David Letterman for Late Show With David Letterman
Jon Stewart for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

David Chase for The Sopranos (episode: "Made in America")
David Chase and Matthew Weiner for The Sopranos (episode: "Kennedy and Heidi")
Ronald D. Moore for Battlestar Galactica (episode: "Occupation/Precipice")
Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof for Lost (episode: "Through the Looking Glass")
Terence Winter for The Sopranos (episode: "The Second Coming")

Rob Marshall for Tony Bennett: An American Classic
Bruce Gowers for American Idol — The Finale
Don Roy for Saturday Night Live — Host: Alec Baldwin
Jim Hoskinson for The Colbert Report — Show #2161
Chuck O'Neil for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart — Show #12061

Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program

Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Late Show With David Letterman
Real Time With Bill Maher
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

About the Emmys

The Emmy Awards are administered by three sister organisations; the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The Awards recognise excellence within various areas of the television industry, and are a symbol of peer recognition from over 12,000 members of the Academy, where each member casts a ballot for the category of competition in their field of expertise.

The Awards are divided into three categories - The Primetime Awards, The Daytime Awards and the L.A. Area Awards.

Only the Primetime Awards are screened in South Africa, which celebrate excellence in national prime-time programming, awarding top honours during the creative arts awards and the prime-time telecast.

The first Emmy Awards were presented on January 25, 1949 at the Hollywood Athletic Club. The name "Emmy" was a feminisation of "immy", a nickname used for the image orthicon tubes that were commonplace in early television cameras.

The Emmy Awards trophies are currently made by a private company with a manufacturing site at the maximum security El Dorado Correctional Facility, in El Dorado, Kansas.

The statuette of a winged woman holding an atom has since become the symbol of the TV Academy's goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television.

The wings represent the muse of art, and the atom represents the electron of science. It was created by television engineer Louis McManus, using his wife as a model.